Dimensional lumber used in construction, such as building studs and other structural building members, are generally prepared by cutting a unitary piece of lumber to the desired size. For example, a typical 2.times.4 building stud is prepared by cutting a larger piece of lumber to the requisite size.
In operation, logs may be cut at a saw mill to produce lumber of various sizes. The number of pieces of lumber of any particular size which may be produced from a log is limited by the size of the log. For any given size log, a larger number of smaller pieces of lumber may be produced. A log may be cut so as to maximize the number of usable pieces of lumber from a log. Accordingly, for example, the number of pieces of lumber which are suitable for manufacturing 2.times.4's from any particular log is limited.
In the industry, composite wood members may be made in a variety of different ways. These are typically made by gluing wood pieces of differing sizes of together. For example, plywood, oriented strand board and particle board are prepared by adhering pieces of wood of varying sizes together. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,295 to Howland which discloses a method of producing wood panels by finger joining wood members together.
Methods have also been developed to produce composite wood members from two members, one of which is a high grade wood and the other of which is a low grade wood. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 647,626 (Gilmour), 647,627 (Gilmour) and 1,409,410 (Rockwell). These processes are directed at producing a composite wood product which has a good surface appearance by using lesser quality wood.